Derek Flaman Featured in Alberta Oil on Opportunities During the Oil Slump

The current oil price slump has caused challenges for many in the energy sector; the shifting industry landscape has also created opportunities, including attractive terms to prospective buyers for cash-strapped energy companies forced to divest their operations. Derek Flaman, partner in Torys’ Oil and Gas Practice, commented on this industry dynamic in Alberta Oil magazine. Below is an excerpt of the article:

“You’ve still got all these vendors that have built up their businesses and spent a lot of time and energy and money getting to the point where they thought they were in a great spot and they’re sort of unwilling to believe that the commodity prices that we’re in are going to continue to stay where they are,” Flaman says. “I think they may be a little overly optimistic in thinking that prices are going to improve more quickly than the rest of us think they’re going to.” That optimism, he says, is on a collision course with the natural pessimism of bankers, bondholders and other financiers.

“Prices certainly will get better, but some people can’t wait around,” he says. “Even though they would like to hang on, it’s not necessarily up to them.” For prospective – and patient – buyers, of course, that’s exactly the kind of situation they’re waiting for.